Ticket Pricing

[Chairback]

Figure this is a great place to post this.  How do you come up with your ticket pricing for games?  I'm having a hard time finding the rational when the gym is not full.  Looking on-line at the upcoming game Saturday it appears that only a handful of seats have been sold in the upper deck.  You can argue prices are reasonable compared to other universities but the seats are not full.

Here are a few ideas:
-Upper deck tickets always 10 bucks no matter who comes to play.  Rows RR thru ZZ 5 bucks each.
-Sections J&F in chairbacks need to be half the price of a regular chairback.
-Have more family nights with the concession discounts.  These have been successful in the past but poorly advertised.
-Get creative with dynamic pricing.  If the upper deck is going to be empty just discount majorly to get people in.
-Push your ticket website via social media.  Get the link out there so people know where to go. 

[LaPorteAveApostle]

Man, if a guy named *Chairback* thinks the mezzanine is overpriced...then...yipes.

I mean, to go with what I know...$20 will get you the lower bowl at UM's game this week.  Upper is $10.

And before you say, well that's NJIT they're playing, and why? and you'd be right, but Illinois--the conference home opener--the most expensive tickets are just $40, then $20 and $10.

So...

[a3uge]

One, the New Mexico game is being sold as a premium game with single tickets for $35/$20 instead of $25/10. This is the only game on the schedule with these prices. The lackluster sales for this type of game shows that this was clearly a mistake, as A and E are almost completely outsold while AA, BB, DD, EE have been completely untouched so far. Valpo is playing a team that is two years removed from a 3 seed and has been in the tourney 4 of the past 5 years. Maybe this shows the lack of fan knowledge or the perception of the MWC, or maybe it shows fans knew New Mexico is in a down year, but this is a game that SHOULD be sold out, or at the very least, be 80% full. Maybe there will be a ton of walkups and sales tomorrow, but it usually doesn't amount for 1-2k fans.

I'm going to the game Saturday with 4 other alumns and snagged some tickets fairly early. $20 for 3 rows behind Valpo's bench. I find that fantastic. Compared to the UWM vs Valpo games I attended while living in Milwaukee it was roughly the same price. Green Bay is fairly similar in price as well. I'm not sure comparing the lowest prices in those two venues to the ARC is fair, since they have baseline and corner seats. If I had a family, I could get UWGB youth tickets for $7. I could sit along the baseline for $11. These two schools also lease from their arenas. Looking at the rest of the Horizon, prices for Wright State are $25 for the best seats, and $15 for a center court, upper deck seat (probably comparable to the Mez at Valpo). Corner seats are $11. Cleveland State is $20 for center, $15 baseline, and $10 for the end, and $5 for students to be in the creepy photo of fans the drape over at the other end. For most games, the Valpo prices are $10 for any bleachers and mez, and $25 for chairbacks. Compare that to Valpo's typical prices, and you'll find the prices affordable.

I find it illogical that Valpo tickets in the 3rd row are the same price as the last row of the Mezzanine. It would seem like staggering theses prices would increase the value of the lower seats while driving more causal fans in that just want to get in the door. But at the very least, this game shouldn't have $20 obstructed seats. I can find Pacer tickets for less than that.

[crusaderjoe]

One thing I have always wondered:  why not sell "standing room only tickets" as a matter of course for $3.00 or $4.00 at designated areas behind the baskets on the walking track for game viewing? Much better sight lines for sure.  (I might put an age restriction though for safety.)

Would building code restrictions be a problem?

[classof2014]

One thing I have always wondered:  why not sell "standing room only tickets" as a matter of course for $3.00 or $4.00 at designated areas behind the baskets on the walking track for game viewing? Much better sight lines for sure.  (I might put an age restriction though for safety.)

Would building code restrictions be a problem?

I don't think that'd be an issue. I have stood behind the baskets a few times during the more crowded games and the view isn't bad at all. I would imagine if you get too many standers then it could be a fire hazard or something but that is why there are ushers who can check tickets to see who is supposed to be standing or sitting.

[a3uge]

One thing I have always wondered:  why not sell "standing room only tickets" as a matter of course for $3.00 or $4.00 at designated areas behind the baskets on the walking track for game viewing? Much better sight lines for sure.  (I might put an age restriction though for safety.)

Would building code restrictions be a problem?

I think people that would purchase SRO tickets would be people that would buy a seat upstairs anyways and walk down to the track area.

[crusaderjoe]

One thing I have always wondered:  why not sell "standing room only tickets" as a matter of course for $3.00 or $4.00 at designated areas behind the baskets on the walking track for game viewing? Much better sight lines for sure.  (I might put an age restriction though for safety.)

Would building code restrictions be a problem?

I think people that would purchase SRO tickets would be people that would buy a seat upstairs anyways and walk down to the track area.

True, and I've done this in the past myself. However, this only works if that area is available for access to begin with.  I've been to the ARC where the behind the basket walking track area was accessible and also where that area had been roped off.  If the section is roped off and you've bought a Mezz ticket with the idea that you were going to move down once the game started, you're now out of luck and potentially stuck with a lousy seat for that game.  I'd like to see VU roll out SRO tickets to alleviate this possibility so that the consumer knows exactly what he's paying for at the time of purchase.  In other words, you're not sweating it out that the area will be available at the time you buy.

[historyman]

And before you say, well that's NJIT they're playing, and why? and you'd be right,

Well that NJIT is hanging pretty close to the Wolverines. 56-56 with about 5 minutes to go. Maybe they should have charged more for the NJIT game than the Illinois game.

It's on the Big Ten channel.

EDIT:  Final= 72-70  Guess who?    NJIT!!! (only three exclamation marks)

[LaPorteAveApostle]

Well